Top-down estimates of biomass burning emissions of black carbon in the Western United States

Mao, Yuhao; Li, Q. B.; Chen, D.; Zhang, L.; Hao, Wei Min; Liou, Kuo‐Nan

doi:10.5194/acp-14-7195-2014

Cited by 19 publications

(40 citation statements)

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“…Surface level BC and PM 2.5 concentrations in GEOS–Chem have been evaluated with in situ observations in the U.S. in numerous studies (Duncan Fairlie et al, 2007; Heald et al, 2012; Henze et al, 2009; Leibensperger et al, 2012; Mao et al, 2013, 2011; Park et al, 2003, 2004, 2006; Pye et al, 2009; Walker et al, 2012; Zhang et al, 2012). The initial BC estimates from Park et al (2003) showed decent skill in simulating seasonal annual average BC concentrations (R 2 from 0.68 to 0.82, slopes of reduced major axis regressions from 0.83 to 1.17) compared to observations from the 24 h average concentrations collected one out of 3 days at IMPROVE sites (Malm et al, 1994) (http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/improve).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The initial BC estimates from Park et al (2003) showed decent skill in simulating seasonal annual average BC concentrations (R 2 from 0.68 to 0.82, slopes of reduced major axis regressions from 0.83 to 1.17) compared to observations from the 24 h average concentrations collected one out of 3 days at IMPROVE sites (Malm et al, 1994) (http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/improve). More recently, GEOS–Chem BC simulations have been evaluated in the Western US by Mao et al (2011, 2013) for 2006, using a previous version of the GFED biomass burning inventory (van der Werf et al, 2006). Mao et al (2013) found the model performed well for locations at elevations less than 1 km above sea level, while performance at mountainous sites was strongly impacted by uncertainties in the biomass burning emissions as well as model resolution.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, GEOS–Chem BC simulations have been evaluated in the Western US by Mao et al (2011, 2013) for 2006, using a previous version of the GFED biomass burning inventory (van der Werf et al, 2006). Mao et al (2013) found the model performed well for locations at elevations less than 1 km above sea level, while performance at mountainous sites was strongly impacted by uncertainties in the biomass burning emissions as well as model resolution. Here we reevaluate the model BC compared to measurements from IMPROVE, see Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing public health burden associated with exposure to ambient black carbon in the United States

Liu

Henze

Jack

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

114

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Black carbon (BC) is a significant component of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution, which has been linked to a series of adverse health effects, in particular premature mortality. Recent scientific research indicates that BC also plays an important role in climate change. Therefore, controlling black carbon emissions provides an opportunity for a double dividend. This study quantifies the national burden of mortality and morbidity attributable to exposure to ambient BC in the United States (US). We use GEOS–Chem, a global 3-D model of atmospheric composition to estimate the 2010 annual average BC levels at 0.5 × 0.667° resolution, and then re-grid to 12-km grid resolution across the continental US. Using PM2.5 mortality risk coefficient drawn from the American Cancer Society cohort study, the numbers of deaths due to BC exposure were estimated for each 12-km grid, and then aggregated to the county, state and national level. Given evidence that BC particles may pose a greater risk on human health than other components of PM2.5, we also conducted sensitivity analysis using BC-specific risk coefficients drawn from recent literature. We estimated approximately 14,000 deaths to result from the 2010 BC levels, and hundreds of thousands of illness cases, ranging from hospitalizations and emergency department visits to minor respiratory symptoms. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the total BC-related mortality could be even significantly larger than the above mortality estimate. Our findings indicate that controlling BC emissions would have substantial benefits for public health in the US.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing public health burden associated with exposure to ambient black carbon in the United States

Liu

Henze

Jack

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

114

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…3.1. The adjoint model has previously been used to constrain emissions of CO (Kopacz et al, , 2010, BC (Mao et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2015b), and other aerosols and to identify sources of ozone (L. , BC (Kopacz et al, 2011), and other aerosols (Zhang et al, 2015a). In addition, the adjoint has also been used to estimate the sensitivity of direct radiative forcing to aerosol emissions .…”

Section: Geos-chem Adjoint Simulation Of Bcmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sources of springtime surface black carbon in the Arctic: an adjoint analysis for April 2008

Liu

Henze

et al. 2017

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. We quantify source contributions to springtime (April 2008) surface black carbon (BC) in the Arctic by interpreting surface observations of BC at five receptor sites (Denali, Barrow, Alert, Zeppelin, and Summit) using a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) and its adjoint. Contributions to BC at Barrow, Alert, and Zeppelin are dominated by Asian anthropogenic sources (40-43 %) before 18 April and by Siberian open biomass burning emissions (29-41 %) afterward. In contrast, Summit, a mostly free tropospheric site, has predominantly an Asian anthropogenic source contribution (24-68 %, with an average of 45 %). We compute the adjoint sensitivity of BC concentrations at the five sites during a pollution episode (20-25 April) to global emissions from 1 March to 25 April. The associated contributions are the combined results of these sensitivities and BC emissions. Local and regional anthropogenic sources in Alaska are the largest anthropogenic sources of BC at Denali (63 % of total anthropogenic contributions), and natural gas flaring emissions in the western extreme north of Russia (WENR) are the largest anthropogenic sources of BC at Zeppelin (26 %) and Alert (13 %). We find that longrange transport of emissions from Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (also known as Jing-Jin-Ji), the biggest urbanized region in northern China, contribute significantly ( ∼ 10 %) to surface BC across the Arctic. On average, it takes ∼ 12 days for Asian anthropogenic emissions and Siberian biomass burning emissions to reach the Arctic lower troposphere, supporting earlier studies. Natural gas flaring emissions from the WENR reach Zeppelin in about a week. We find that episodic transport events dominate BC at Denali (87 %), a site outside the Arctic front, which is a strong transport barrier. The relative contribution of these events to surface BC within the polar dome is much smaller (∼ 50 % at Barrow and Zeppelin and ∼ 10 % at Alert). The large contributions from Asian anthropogenic sources are predominately in the form of "chronic" pollution (∼ 40 % at Barrow, 65 % at Alert, and 57 % at Zeppelin) on about a 1-month timescale. As such, it is likely that previous studies using 5-or 10-day trajectory analyses strongly underestimated the contribution from Asia to surface BC in the Arctic.

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“…Most of the fire emission inventories utilize active fire locations and burned area to estimate the trace gases and aerosol emissions released into the atmosphere (Mao et al, 2014). However, the temporal and spatial distribution of biomass burning emissions is affected by several sources of errors related, e.g., to the lack of detection of small fires during prescribed and agricultural burning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of fire emission inventories during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) experiment

et al. 2016

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Abstract. Fires associated with land use and land cover changes release large amounts of aerosols and trace gases into the atmosphere. Although several inventories of biomass burning emissions cover Brazil, there are still considerable uncertainties and differences among them. While most fire emission inventories utilize the parameters of burned area, vegetation fuel load, emission factors, and other parameters to estimate the biomass burned and its associated emissions, several more recent inventories apply an alternative method based on fire radiative power (FRP) observations to estimate the amount of biomass burned and the corresponding emissions of trace gases and aerosols. The Brazilian Biomass Burning Emission Model (3BEM) and the Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) are examples of the first, while the Brazilian Biomass Burning Emission Model with FRP assimilation (3BEM_FRP) and the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) are examples of the latter. These four biomass burning emission inventories were used during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field campaign. This paper analyzes and inter-compared them, focusing on eight regions in Brazil and the time period of 1 September-31 October 2012. Aerosol optical thickness (AOT 550 nm ) derived from measurements made by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) operating on board the Terra and Aqua satellites is also applied to assess the inventories' consistency. The daily area-averaged pyrogenic carbon monoxide (CO) emission estimates exhibit significant linear correlations (r, p > 0.05 level, Student t test) between 3BEM and FINN and between 3BEM_ FRP and GFAS, with values of 0.86 and 0.85, respectively. These results indicate that emission estimates in this region derived via similar methods tend to agree with one other. However, they differ more from the estimates derived via the alternative approach. The evaluation of MODIS AOT 550 nm indicates that model simulation driven by 3BEM and FINN typically underestimate the smoke particle loading in the eastern region of Amazon forest, while 3BEM_FRP estimations to the area tend to overestimate fire emissions. The daily regional CO emission fluxes from 3BEM and FINN have linear correlation coefficients of 0.75-0.92, with typically 20-30 % higher emission fluxes in FINN. The daily regional CO emission fluxes from 3BEM_FRP and GFAS show linear correlation coefficients between 0.82 and 0.90, with a particularly strong correlation near the arc of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. In this region, GFAS has a tendency to present higher CO emissions than 3BEM_FRP, while 3BEM_FRP yields more emissions in the area of soybean expansion east of the Amazon forest. Atmospheric aerosol optical thickness is simulated by using the emission inventories with two operational atmospheric chemistry transport models: the Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. However, the aerosol emissions from fires with particularly high biomass consumption still lead to ...

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Top-down estimates of biomass burning emissions of black carbon in the Western United States

Cited by 19 publications

References 100 publications

Assessing public health burden associated with exposure to ambient black carbon in the United States

Assessing public health burden associated with exposure to ambient black carbon in the United States

Sources of springtime surface black carbon in the Arctic: an adjoint analysis for April 2008

Assessment of fire emission inventories during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) experiment

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